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India: Battle over India's marriage age

Source:

BBC

A conservative Muslim body in India has gone to the High Court to challenge the legal age of marriage, which currently stands at 18.

The All-India Muslim Personal Law Board insists that in family matters the country's Muslims should be subject only to Islamic law, known as Sharia. It maintains that it is supported by a 1937 act upholding Muslims' right to be guided by this law. The debate has arisen because of a family who have been threatened with arrest because they allowed the marriage of an under-age girl. The family are insisting in the High Court that Muslims are entitled to follow Islamic Sharia law. They say this means allowing weddings any time after puberty, which comes earlier for most girls than boys.